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After giving Maddie another serious look, she turned to me and palmed my cheek. “Don’t take Alessio too seriously. He is like that to everyone. Give him some time,” she said softly, before smiling and then walking out of the kitchen.
As soon as Lena was out of sight, Maddie started swearing. “That little fucker. He is lucky I wasn’t there. I would have sucker punched him for talking like that to you. Asshole. Jerk.”
She kept going, moving around the kitchen almost furiously. She slammed a plate full of breakfast on a tray and then made a glass of protein while I stood there watching her rage. When Maddie was done, she pushed the tray in my hand.
“Go give that him,” she ordered.
Was she crazy? Why would she send me back to the lion’s den?
“What? No.” I pushed the tray back.
“Nuh-uh, girl. You are going up there and giving him his breakfast. And you are going to act like nothing happened.”
When I didn’t move, she sighed and her shoulders dropped. “Considering how long I have known him, I’m pretty sure he is feeling guilty right now. So you are going to go up there and make him feel guiltier and shitty about himself. Yeah?”
“Maddie—”
“Trust me. He will probably even apologize. But you are going to act nonchalant and walk away. Understood? Make. Him. Feel. Guilty,” she huffed.
I tried to shake my head but she was already talking over me. “Ayla, you are too sweet for your own good. Which makes it much worse. You didn’t deserve how he treated you. So, humor me, okay? Please.”
“No,” I snapped.
Maddie threw her hands in the air in frustration.
“Maddie, I don’t want to hurt him. He is angry and doesn’t want to see me,” I replied.
“And that’s where you are wrong. Alessio wants to see you. He let you play the piano, for God’s sake. It means something. It means a lot. He is just frustrated at himself and that’s why he took it out on you,” Maddie explained in a rush. “I know him, Ayla. Just do as I tell you and everything will be good.”
“But—”
Maddie shook her head. “No. You are getting late. Go give Alessio his breakfast.” When I didn’t move, she gently pushed me toward the door. “Go. And good luck! You can do this.”
As I slowly walked out of the kitchen, I heard Maddie call out behind me, “I’ll be waiting here for you.”
“Okay,” I muttered, my voice trembling.
I passed by Nikolay and Viktor as I made my way upstairs. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickled as I felt their stares on my back, but I kept my gaze down, purposely avoiding them.
With each step I took toward Alessio’s office, my heart hammered almost painfully in my chest. My hands grew cold and a trickle of sweat ran down my neck and between my shoulder blades.
Stopping in front of the door, I took a deep breath and then brought my hand up. As soon as my fist knocked against the door, Alessio’s voice came through.
“Come in.”
I walked inside to find him facing away from me. He was only wearing his black shirt and black slacks. I cleared my throat and he quickly turned around, his eyes widening at the sight of me.
I sighed in relief when I noticed he had showered. He was wearing a clean dress shirt, and his hair appeared wet. His face was cleaned from the blood too.
I also noticed that he was struggling to wrap his bandages again.
“I brought your breakfast,” I said, surprisingly without stuttering. He stared at me silently, his face impassive, and then he nodded toward the coffee table.
I placed the tray down before straightening and turning to look at Alessio. We stared at each other for a second before I stared at his hands.
Taking a step closer, I cleared my throat again before nervously asking, “Do you want me to bandage them again?”
He had made it clear that he didn’t want my help before, but there was nothing wrong in offering to help again. Right? It was his choice to accept it or not.
Alessio looked down at his hands and then shook his head. “No. It’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he responded briskly. He tried to wrap the bandages around his hands and I stayed still as I watched him struggle with it.
It was a mess. Without thinking of the consequences, I walked to him and took his hands in mine. Alessio went rigid and I felt his breath on my forehead. With my head bent, I started to wrap the bandages around his hands.
He stood perfectly still, his muscles barely moving. His breathing was slightly erratic. My heart thumped in my chest and my stomach twisted nervously at being this close to him.
When I was done, I stepped back and gave him a wan smile. “Done,” I whispered as our eyes met.
